Clothespin



J. D. TINSLEY May 16, 1950 CLOTHESPIN 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 4,1947 avwowtw fun/was 0. TuvsLEY,

J. D. TINSLEY May 16, 1950 CLOTHESPIN Filed March 4, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet2 FIG. 5.

gjwue/wto n JAMES D. 77/V6LEY,

Patented May 16, 1950 f EY-o STATES CLOTHESPIN James 1). Tinsley,Bakersfield, Loan-f.

Application March 4, 1947; Serial No: 73-23261 Claims.

invention relates to clothes pins, particularlyto a composite wood andwire device adiustabl-y adapted to releasablyiengage fabrics ofdifferent thicknesses ewhen hung over clothes lines.

It is-a-principalobject of my invention to providea elothespin inewhicha wooden block and a wire spr-i-ng cooperate to make the said pinadjustable to receive and engage fabricsmof different thicknesses.

It is an important objector myainvention to prov i'de a clothes pin otthe character described which the woodenblockeis formedrsubstanti-a'llyas a right'pr-ism andthe spring ismounted thereoneccentrictoeach of the axes :thereoito beadj-ustable to yieldingly grip each of;the lateral '-faces thereof with adifferent degree of pressure.

it is a further object of my invention. to provide a-cl'othes pin of thecharacter described'in which thewooden'block is slidable upon ,adependent portionof-said-spring to aid in disengaging.fabricsheId-thereb it is a --stil-l further object .of Amy invention toprovide -a clothes pin .01 the character described whichisrelatively:simple and cheap .to :manu- 'fa'ctnre, easy to=use,ij:long-1-asting :and efiicient in use,- and which :cannot get iout of d-OI'dGI' eunless tampered with. l I

etherobjects and advantages .of my; invention 'w-lll heoome apparent.during the..course of the :fellowing specification, in which likenumerals are' used to designatelike parts throughout thespecificationand drawings. r

In-the-drawings: Fig-ure- 1-is a top plan of .1clothes'pin embodying myinvention, Figure 2 is aside elevationalaview of the clothes pin,illustrating:thetrelation of the block andwire spring,

fFignr-efiis anotherlside viewof'thesame, illus- :trating the.eccentric'relation ofzone of thede- :pendent. arms to 'thegblock,

-;-Figure ,4. is :a top plan,. somewhat similar to :Eigure 1, the springbeing shown in the plurality :of positions itmay assume relative to theblock,

-zEil ure5 is :a sideelevation ,of atmodification Lfif the clothes pinin which the dependent arm of the spring passing through theblock islengthened inelativen to the-othen, arm, 7

Figurefi is a viewof the pin illustratedwin Figuitezfi, the block beingshown translated down- 2 Referring now in .edetail ;to :the drawingsipare ticularl-y to Figures 2191, thenumeral :wtrdesi hates-a ibloclg,lprefierablycof W00d,. in the zformxe'f a :right. prism ihaving:chamfered edges, as at y it, surrounding it at utoprand hbottom. 'ZI'hends .roi the block are, of course, square;-zbutitheabody.may he-'cubicalloreiongated :as shown. "The block is provided with alongitudinal-bore :12 eccentric L120 tooth-roof the imajor horizontaltaxes .ofithe prism. A spring 1:3, :iormed 10f ..a single rwire isimadeby. bendingithe wire intermediateiitsrends torior-m a ahelical. middleportion 14 .ofatv least two coils, the mespeetiveiendmortionsioj thev.wime -being 56X.- rtended tangentially .ito .theecircumferences iofthe 15 end coilsiito -form .-a abightleomprising :the :spring l1; andtwo oppositely extending divergent larms llfi. and A16. .Aeportion 1.1of iarm lfitextendsacross .the-ltop of rtheublock iii] approximatelylone-half .thetvidth ofthezsaid blockrtheiarm ifibeingrthen\bentatvrightlsangles'toflthe portion I'I andspasseti throughwthereccentricfibone '42 a::l-oop 41-8, adapted -.-to press against thebottom :sur-iaceuof :the said iblockabeingiormed at-thelowerend.Elie-other harm I26 springsa re'lativelyashort\distancetheyond 5 theplane in which lies-one ofutheilaterallsides 1.9, where it.is :loentflownwardrat .an angleslig-htly iess'than a right. angle, thedependentportion :24! being adapted to e-yieldingly irgrip the dependent side:closely-iadjacent \Ithe flower .ehamiered. edge 30 thereof. ,Thegrippingiorce will heraominensu rate with :the strength .of the wire,the :angle of :theibend, and thezposition of therarmrrelativeato theeccentric bore, as ;:is. shown. in Figure 4, l and:will:;be.hereinafter.iexplainedabutbest results-will mepbtained,if..the lateral sideufarthestremoved iromflthesaideccentric boreiischosen .rthisbendl 1 Theirlependentportion Zfiis extenmd downward below:thebottomoithe111001;, as shown .inifiigurezrandaloop 2.! providineafinger. piece ion; ovinethearm. Z04, utwendlyrreletiveht the block .8 i:fermednn the end.

..T.-e obvious purpose .-,of ianmolothes p is to s ieldieely raspiabriQsl an i ia-Qn. aqe h s lin toholol. them thereon a ainst the a tioof wind noripther eend iqnsiwhich woul en o blo .th mgaway or from thloth li nrn my improved .clot espin, the, han in fab i is ;sri pped beee t emadins dependent arm. 2 .andone ofthe lateral sides .-l9. When-thaclothe s 5o pin ispressed downward on the jabric, thearm l 2,0 is,forced outward, securely holding the fabric th u h th en r y of the,,srins ilaeainst the block. Whenuthe fabric-is tobe removedfrom theclothes line, the block is, lifted upward. the released energyoof thearm-2!],returning it to the position shown inF igureZ, ,In case the',pi,n'is

"divergent arm l6, as shown in Figure 6. -'embodiment has all of theadvantages already pointed out, plus the additional advantage of droppedto the ground during the placing or removal, my pin has the additionaladvantage of not rolling away, but will be found directly under theplace from which it was dropped.

In using any of the known pins of the prior art, whether of wood, metalor wire, the pin has a substantially fixed tensile adjustment which willordinarily secure 75 per cent of the fabrics to be hung on clothes linessatisfactorily. However, it is sometimes necessary to hang fabrics whichfall into the other 25 per cent, for example, heavy clothing, rugs,quilts, or fabrics having hemmed edges thicker than the rest of thefabric. In such cases, the pin must be sprung to provide a widergripping opening. In the case of the all-wood pin, breakage is a commonoccurrence, while in the case of metal or wire pins, the increasedpressure against the spring or metal may damage the fabric, and frequentuse of such pins with thick articles has a tendency to weaken the springand destroy its resiliency, so that when next used with the 75 per centof fabrics to be hung, it will have lost its grip, making it useless. Ihave overcome this difliculty in my arrangement of my spring in aneccentric bore.

The 75 per cent of all fabrics to be hung will be held securely andwithout damage in the arrangement of spring l3 shown in Figures 1, 2,and 3, and in the solid line representation of the spring in Figure 4.Since the bore I2 is eccentric to both maj or horizontal axes, it isobvious that a different gripping tension between spring and lateralsidewall is obtainable on each of the said lateral walls or sides as thedependent arm 22 is rotated in the bore.

The adjustment is made quickly and easily by moving the other dependentarm 20 outwardly by means of the finger piece 2| vuntil the said arm isperpendicular, whereupon particular article hanging on the clothes line,

as shown clearly in Figure 4.

In the modification of Figures and 6, the

spring I3 is formed in the same manner already described, except thatthe divergent arm l5 carries a dependent arm 23, correspondingfunctionally and otherwise to the arm 22 of Figures 1-4,

is considerably longer, the extension of said arm 23 being sufficient toallow the block ill to slide downward .farenough to clear the loop 2| ofthe dependent portion or arm 26' carried by the other This permittingeasier adjustment of the spring rela- "tive to the different sides,making the removal of fabrics from the grip of the arm 20 easier, and ininstances where such an arrangement is desirable "in order to avoidcontact of the fabric with the clothes line, permitting hanging the pindirectly on a clothes line 24, as shown in Figure 6, and holding thearticle between the block III which has been lowered on the arm 23 andthe arm 20.

In the modification of Figure 7, an eccentric apertured bore 25 issubstituted for the through bore l2, annular grooves 26 being formed inthe block 30 in one or two places along the length of the apertured bore25 to engage humps 21 formed on the shortened dependent arm 28 carriedby the divergent arm I5, the arm 28 being substituted for the dependentarm 22 of Figures 1-4, and arm spring material and eliminating theoutwardly extending loop l8. The other divergents arm I6 is providedwith a dependent arm 3| which carries a loop 32, the arm 3| and loop 32being similar to the arm 2|) and loop 2| of Figures 1 to 4, inclusive,and to arm 20' and loop 2| of Figures 5 and 6.

I have described my invention in the different embodiments best known tome at this time. It is to be understood, however, that changes in theshape and arrangement of my invention may be made without departing fromthe spirit of the invention within the scope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. An improved clothes pin comprising a block formed as a right prismformed with a vertically extending bore therein, the said bore beingdisposed eccentric to each major horizontal axis of said block, and aspring formed of a single piece of wire and having spaced apart coplanardependent arms, one of said arms being disposed in said eccentric boreand the other said arm being adapted to yieldingly grip a selected oneof the lateral faces of said prism.

2. An improved clothes pin comprising a member having the form of aright prism, said prism being formed with a vertical bore extendingtherethrough disposed eccentrically to both major horizontal axes ofsaid prism, and a spring member formed from a single wire coiledintermediate its ends, the end coils being extended tangentially to thecircumference thereof to form a pair of oppositely extending arms, oneof the said arms being bent adjacent said coils and disposed in saidvertical bore and secured against upward translative movement relativethereto, the other said arm being bent at an angle less than degreesoutwardly of said prism to lie in a substantial vertical plane passingthrough said first mentioned arm and being adapted to yieldingly grip aselected one of the respective lateral faces of said prism when the saidspring member is rotated about the periphery of said prism on a pivotformed by said first mentioned arm, to yieldingly grip articles ofvarying thicknesses between the said last mentioned arm and therespective lateral faces of said prism 3. An improved clothes pincomprising a member having the form of a right prism, said prism beingformed with a vertical bore extending therethrough disposedeccentrically to vertical planes passing through said prism along themajor horizontal axes thereof, and a spring member coiled intermediateits ends, the said coils being arranged to rest on one of the bases ofsaid prism, the end coils being extended tangentially to the respectivecircumferences thereof to form oppositely extending arms, the said firstarm being bent normal to said extension to be disposed in said bore andextend therethrough a distance slightly greater than'the height of saidprism and having means on the end thereof to arrest downward translativemovement of said prism on said arm, the second arm being disposed onsaid base to extend outwardly thereof a short distance and beingthereupon bent downward at an angle less than 90 degrees to lie in aperpendicular plane passing through said first arm and adapted toyieldingly grip the respective lateral faces of said prism successivelywhen said spring member is rotated about said prism on a pivot formed bysaid first arm, the said prism being adapted for translative movement upand down on said first arm 4. An improved clothes pin comprising amemher having the form of a right prism, said prism being formed with anapertured bore extending longitudinally into said prism from one of thebases thereof and said bore being formed with at least one annulargroove surrounding said apertured bore, and a spring member coiledintermediate its ends, the coils being adapted to rest on the prism baseadjacent the opening of said bore, the end coils being extendedtangentially to the respective circumferences thereof to form oppositelyextending arms, the first said arm being bent normal to said extensionand disposed in said apertured bore, there being at least one humpformed in said arm adapted to engage in the annular groove formed insaid prism surrounding said bore to secure said first arm therein, thesecond said arm being disposed on said baseto extend outwardly thereofand be bent downward at an angle less than 90 degrees to lie in aperpendicular plane passing through said first arm and yieldingly gripone of the lateral faces of said prism, the said second arm beingadapted to successively grip each of the said lateral faces of saidprism with different degrees of pressure when the said spring member isrotated about the said prism on a pivot formed by said first arm 7 5. Animproved clothes pin, comprising a right prism, said prism being formedwith a verticallyextending bore therethrough, said bore being disposedeccentrically to both major horizontal axes of said prism, a springmember comprising a single length of wire, said spring member beingformed to provide a bight and a pair of depending arms, one of said armsbeing pivotally mounted in said bore, said other arm being inwardlydisposed toward said first arm at an angle less than ninety degreesrelative to said bight, said secondnamed arm being adapted to yieldinglygrip a selected one of the respective lateral faces of said REFERENCESCITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 736,867 Murray Aug. 18, 19032,036,338 Kramer Apr. '7, 1936 2,084,738 Manker June 22. 1937

